Film Genre Introduction
What is this module about?
Within this module we will be gaining a better understanding of film genres and how they relate to the filmmaking process. Beggining with the initial idea and working through the full pre-production, production, and post-production process. We will also be looking at the effects genre has on audiences. Obviously some films subvert ideas of their genre, but in order to do this it is important that the rules of the genre are understood. You have to understand the rules in order to break them.
Reading List
Scriptwriting
Johnson, Claudia H., Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect, 3rd edition (Focal Press, 2009)
Cowgill, Linda J., Writing Short Films: Structure and Content for Screenwriters, 2nd Edition (Los Angeles: Lone Eagle Publishing, 2005)
Deleyto, Celestino, The Secret Life of Romantic Comedy (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2009)
Egri, Lajos, The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives (New York, London, Toronto and Sydney: Simon & Schuster, 2004)
Field, Syd, The Definitive Guide to Screenwriting (London: Ebury Press, 2003)
Field, Syd, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (New York: Dell Publishing, 1982)
Frensham, Ray, Teach Yourself Screenwriting (London: Hodder Education, 2008)
Mackendrick, Alexander, ed. by Paul Cronin, On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director (London: Faber and Faber, 2004)
Parker, Philip, The Art and Science of Screenwriting, 2nd Edition (Bristol and Portland, Oregon: Intellect, 1999)
Sound Design
Chion, Michel, Audio Vision: Sound on Screen, Columbia University Press (15 April 1994)
Chion, Michel, Film. A Sound Art, Columbia University Press (4 Aug. 2009)
Bordwell, David, and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction, 10th Edition (New York: McGraw Hill, 2013)
Holman, Tomlinson, Sound for Film and Television, 3rd Edition (New York and London: Focal Press, 2010)
Sonnenschein, David, Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema (Studio City, California: Michael Wiese Productions, 2001)
Weis, Elisabeth, and John Belton, eds., Film Sound: Theory and Practice (New York: Columbia University Press, 1985)
Whittington, William, Sound Design and Science Fiction (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007)
Other Production Roles
Barnwell, Jane, Production Design: Architects of the Screen (London: Wallflower, 2004)
Bernstein, Steven, Film Production, 2nd Edition (Oxford: Focal Press, 1994)
Brown, Blain, Motion Picture and Video Lighting, 2nd Edition (Oxford: Focal Press, 2008)
Cleve, Bastian, Film Production Management, 3rd Edition (Oxford: Focal Press, 2006)
Jones, Chris, The Guerilla Film Makerâs Movie Blueprint (New York and London: Bloomsbury, 2003)
Katz, Steven D., Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Studio City, California: Michael Wiese Productions, 1991)
Kauffmann, Sam and Ashley Kennedy, 5th Edition, Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users (Oxford: Focal Press, 2012)
Millerson, Gerald, Lighting for Video, 3rd Edition (Oxford: Focal Press, 1991)
Millerson, Gerald, The Technique of Lighting for Television and Film, 3rd Edition (Oxford: Focal Press, 1991)
Rabiger, Michael, Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics, 3rd Edition (Oxford: Focal Press, 2003)
Street, Sarah, Costume and Cinema: Dress Codes in Popular Film (London: Wallflower, 2001)
Wheeler, Paul, Practical Cinematography (Oxford: Focal Press, 2000)
Projects:
Within this module there are two main projects:
The Film Genre Project (Tagged #the film genre project )
This project is split into four sections.
1. The Film Still, in which we choose a still from a film and present its links to its genre to our groups and lecturers. (This is an individual task)Â
2. The Master Shot, in which we must work in our groups to create our own still image which will link to the next aspects of the project. After which we will present this still to the other groups and our lecturers.
3. Writing A Script, each member of our group must write a script of no more than 3 pages that is suitable for a single location and actor. This should be a development of The Master Shot and should fit a specific genre.
4. Making A Film, we will choose one script from our group and it will be made into a 2-3 minute short film, using techniques developed during previous aspects of the project.
Sound Design Exercise (Tagged #sound design exercise )
This project will begin on October 1st. In this exercise we will work in groups to create the sound design for an assigned short film.
